The Rise of Millwal

Chapter 8: On the Road to Rebuilding

Millwall is a magical club, at least in Audridge's eyes.

Millwall hates Chelsea, even though Chelsea is far away in West London.

Although Audridge is from East London, Millwall is actually located in Southeast London.

Geographically, West Ham United and Charlton are closer, and Millwall is similar, but for some reason, Millwall and West Ham United have become bitter enemies in the century-old East London derby, which dates back over a hundred years.

Millwall also has a derby relationship with South London's Crystal Palace, so much so that the South London derby often features Millwall, while the atmosphere of a derby for the intervening Charlton is significantly less intense, regardless of whom they face.

Audridge, joined by the club's transfer team, arrived in South London, where Millwall's South London derby opponent, Crystal Palace, had just won the League One title last season and would soon step onto the Premier League stage in two months.

However, at that moment, Millwall submitted a transfer bid to Crystal Palace.

The target was Gareth Southgate.

The initial bid was ￡1 million.

This bid received no response from Crystal Palace, which was obviously met with disdain.

Southgate, at just 23, is an outstanding center-back. Although he currently plays in midfield for Crystal Palace, he was instrumental in their promotion and comes with the heritage of the club.

However, when the second offer of ￡2 million was sent to Crystal Palace, just half an hour later, they responded.

￡5 million!

Faced with such a reply, Audridge smiled.

It's not the lion's demand that frightens you; it's the silence of the other party.

After a tug-of-war in negotiations, Millwall's ￡2 million bid ultimately forced Crystal Palace to concede.

￡2 million, this was even the price of a top striker!

Is Southgate worth this price?

From a purely competitive perspective, perhaps not; Andy Cole, who managed to score 41 goals in a season, transferred to Newcastle United for only ￡1.75 million. Although he would transfer to Manchester United for ￡6 million the following spring, setting a transfer record.

But now, players' prices had not yet skyrocketed. What truly holds value is certainly a forward who can score goals.

Audridge's reason for pursuing Southgate boiled down to two points. First, Southgate is young, capable of fighting, and is likely to become a key player for the England national team. Having a domestic international in the locker room is something Audridge needs. Secondly, bringing in a star from a rival is very beneficial for boosting the morale of the fans.

In South London, at Southgate's small apartment, Audridge and Andrew personally visited to discuss the transfer.

Southgate knew Andrew as a mere acquaintance. The arrival of the two brothers from Audridge left him unenthusiastic; his wife poured tea for them before leaving the living room for the men.

After introducing himself, Audridge placed a contract in front of Southgate.

Without even looking, Southgate calmly said, "Please leave; I'm not interested in joining Millwall, a club without a head coach, I see no future there."

"The head coach? There is one, it's me."

Audridge replied just as calmly.

A look of surprise flashed across Southgate's face, quickly followed by a hint of amusement.

He naturally thought Audridge was joking; if not, then he was being foolish.

Audridge opened the contract and held it up before Southgate, saying calmly, "A weekly salary of ￡6,000. If we secure promotion, the contract will be updated to raise your salary to ￡8,000, which will then increase by 10% annually. Additionally, you'll receive bonuses based on the team's end-of-season ranking. The contract lasts five years."

Southgate was stunned. He hadn't expected such an attractive offer to be placed before him!

It was significantly more than he earned at Crystal Palace.

He felt somewhat tempted; professional athletes earn their living on their youth, and sports careers are not only short but also fraught with injuries and fluctuations in performance.

It's natural to want to earn more; there's nothing wrong with that.

Still slightly hesitant, he said, "You're so young; are you really the head coach?"

Audridge closed the contract and placed it on the table, looking steadily at Southgate. Both men were around 1.85 meters tall, making it hard to discern who was dominant in the moment.

"Gareth, I'm not here to beg you to join Millwall. I'm here to express my sincerity. Crystal Palace allowed your transfer once they received my ￡2 million bid. If it were me, I wouldn't hypocritically say players are priceless, but you, in my eyes, are worth at least ￡15 million. I know your value, and this contract is what you deserve. I have a coaching license; I don't need to prove anything to you. If time allowed, I could demonstrate over fifty different corner tactics, more set-piece strategies, and offensive and defensive philosophies during play. But I am the owner; I am the head coach. I don't need to prove anything to you because my team is called Millwall, the future most successful English team. Regardless of what you're thinking, the opportunity is right in front of you; missing it would be your loss."

Andrew maintained a smile on his face, but inwardly he was sweating for Audridge.

The tone Audridge used seemed somewhat arrogant, which aligns with the typical British demeanor.

Yet Audridge's indifferent expression also displayed a genuine confidence, prompting Southgate to gaze at Audridge for a long time before snapping back to reality.

In Southgate's view, Audridge had an aura, one that didn't resemble that of a blabbering clown; this sort of pride and self-confidence is sometimes exactly what is needed on the pitch and is essential for any coach.

After a moment of contemplation, Southgate asked, "What's my position in the team?"

This was the opening Southgate needed. Audridge responded firmly, "You will be my captain. However, your role will change somewhat. In Crystal Palace, you play as a midfielder; at Millwall, you will be a key center-back. Trust me, I have footage of your performances throughout the season. I know better than you how to utilize your skills."

After a long silence, Southgate finally nodded in agreement.

As they left South London and got into the car, Andrew said in a daze, "This is the first time I've seen a negotiation like this."

Audridge, sitting in the front passenger seat, replied calmly, "I'm the boss, I'm the head coach. I don't need to look at anyone's face for approval. If I were begging players to join my team, what kind of authority would I have?"

"Ha, where to next?"

Andrew asked with a smile, feeling that his brother was starting to gather some momentum.

Audridge casually replied, "Take me back to the club. From here, I'll stay at the club, and you can go around and scout some players. Your company can seize this opportunity to sign some players, just as I'm offering high salaries. You can bridge the gap, and it'll be a win-win."

Andrew gladly accepted the task. Although he had previous encounters with Southgate, he only met him when Southgate was already a key player at Crystal Palace, the relationship was quite shallow.

However, many of the players on Audridge's target list were ones Andrew had interacted with in the past two years, allowing him to take his first steps as an agent while leveraging Audridge's high-salary temptations to attract players.

Upon returning to Millwall, Audridge began faxing transfer offers to clubs across Europe.

Since the team was being completely rebuilt, he started scouting talent from each position.

In goal, the club was left with Kasey Keller. While he had ability, he wasn't quite up to the level expected in the Premier League.

So, Audridge targeted Hans-J?rg Butt, a young goalkeeper from the second Bundesliga team, Oldenburg.

This future German third-choice keeper had just been promoted to the first team but had only made two appearances in the previous second Bundesliga season. In terms of fame, he was unknown, and perhaps Oldenburg was still in the process of evaluating his strength.

An offer of ￡100,000 was substantial for a small club, especially for a goalkeeper lacking reputation or proven ability.

Soon, the transfer of the year-old goalkeeper Butt was approved, with the final bid landing at ￡150,000.

With Southgate joining as a center-back, but standing just over 1.8 meters, Audridge felt he needed to bolster his aerial presence. So, he sent a transfer bid to Cambuur, who had just been relegated to the second tier in the Netherlands, offering ￡250,000 for center-back Jaap Stam.

After raising the transfer price to ￡350,000, Millwall's negotiation team flew to the Netherlands to discuss contract terms with Stam.

From AS Cannes, he secured 18-year-old Patrick Vieira for just ￡100,000.

As Perugia had just been promoted to the Italian second tier and was in need of money, Audridge managed to lure their young player Gattuso away for ￡300,000, which led Perugia's president, Saranini, to mock Audridge as a fool in the Italian media.

After all, Gattuso had only signed a contract with Perugia a month prior, and they made a hefty profit from almost nothing.

Just 17 years old and not yet signed to a professional contract, Michael Ballack was tempted to London by Andrew with a weekly salary of ￡3,000.

A direct bid of ￡1 million stunned the management of Sparta Prague, as transfers in Eastern European football generally don't reach the inflated prices seen in major European leagues.

Hence, after raising the price to ￡1.5 million, Millwall gained the opportunity to negotiate with Pavel Nedved, a star player from Sparta Prague.

Had it not been for Andrew having previously made contact with Nedved before he entered the first team of Sparta Prague, this transfer might have failed.

However, the generous salary offered by Audridge was sufficient to make the star player consider his options.

Just relying on Andrew to paint an attractive picture of Audridge's grand plans for Nedved wouldn't have sufficed. After personally calling Nedved to express his sincerity, Audridge included an automatic release clause in the contract for the next season, should they fail to be promoted. Only then did Nedved agree to join, seeing it as a chance to try his hand in England, as it would still be lucrative to earn money for a year before leaving if things didn't pan out.

Subsequently, Audridge made a ￡500,000 bid for Robert Pires from FC Metz.

From the German second division club Jena, he brought back 30-year-old Bernd Schneider for ￡300,000.

He also secured 17-year-old Luca Toni from a third division Italian club, Modena, for just ￡100,000.

Finally, he obtained 18-year-old Ruud van Nistelrooy, known as the "king of the small box," from the Dutch club Den Bosch for ￡350,000.

With all this success, just as Audridge was preparing to head to France to meet a friend, Andrew surprised him again.

The 17-year-old Zambrotta was intercepted by Andrew just before signing with Como, bringing him to London.